The number of blood examinations is increasing because a wealth of data relating to conditions of health and disease is obtained by examination and analysis of blood, particularly serum. Intensive studies have been made to achieve an effective separation of serum. It has been known that separation is effectively made by using a serum separating agent (a partition-forming polymer material having a specific gravity between serum and blood solids) together with a blood coagulation accelerating agent. As the blood coagulation accelerating agents, silicate particles, fibrous materials, calcium compound particles and the like are exemplified, but they do not exhibit sufficient blood-separation capacity They even exhibit hemolysis occasionally. Accordingly, blood coagulation accelerating agents having excellent properties are desired
It is found that a water-pennywort ("New Picture Book of the Japanese Flora" to Makino, published by Hokuryukan, page 433), which has been used for stopping bleeding by people, has the blood coagulation property. Since the water-pennywort (Hydrocotyle genus) is a perennial herb growing naturally in a yard or field and has a height of less than 10 cm, it is difficult to obtain effective components in large quantities.
Components obtained from plants may be classified based on their functions to a blood coagulation component which indicates a blood coagulating function and a component for improving mental disease which improves mental diseases. One of the inventors of the present invention previously found that an important component in the blood coagulation component is 1-sesamin represented by the following formula: ##STR1## It is difficult to produce 1-sesamine in large quantities even by way of chemical syntheses, because 1-sesamine is an optically active substance having a complicated chemical structure.
The present invention enables the production of the blood coagulation component and a mental disease therapeutic component, particularly a component for suppressing neurotropic spasm, in large quantities by way of adopting a plant tissue culture technique.
The plant tissue culture method can grow plants in very high rates in comparison with natural plants growing in a year or month term. Accordingly, the object substance can be obtained in a short term. The plant tissue culture also is not affected by weather and the necessary components can be gathered without extensive labor. Also, it can be and it can be intentionally carried out as an industrial scale.
The culture cell or culture tissue of Hydrocotyle genus and Centella genus, however, has not been reported. It has been found that the components obtained from the culture cells or culture tissue of the plants mentioned above exhibit a blood coagulation property.